Howling at the Moon
by SonicShaymin2
Summary: She hates him... He hates her... These two used to get along, but rivalry between the two got in the way. Along with Hinata and Akamaru, these two went on a mission with each other. And ever since he came back, Kiba has been acting strange. Some sort of infection made its way through his body. Hikari is now stuck with dog-sitting duty but one good thing has to come out of it...
1. Memories and Changes

_**DISCLAIMER:**_

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. NARUTO AND ALL RELATED PRODUCTS BELONG TO THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT, AND MY OWN CHARACTERS. PLEASE SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL RELEASE.**_

Howling at the Moon, Chapter one: Memories and Changes.

_**Hikari's POV:**_

"Stop annoying me, dog breath!" I yelled, and I wasn't talking to the dog.

"I am annoying you?" The brunette yelled back at me. "You're the one who began yelling at me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Look who's talking you stupid mutt!" Once again, I was not talking to the dog.

This may seem weird, but in my life, this is normal… I was yelling at the most annoying person in the world. His name is Kiba Inuzuka. And let me tell you, he is terrible. And not just because he is annoying. He smells like he hasn't had a shower in months and smells like a dog.

The white dog next to Kiba growled and let out a small bark while his terrible owner also growled. That poor dog… His name is Akamaru. Though, I don't know why, his fur isn't even red.

"I could crush you right now if I wanted to…!" Kiba yelled.

"Oh yeah? Then what's stopping you, mutt? Are you that scared of me?" I replied smartly.

"All that I'm saying is that we should take that path!" Kiba screamed as he pointed to the path on the right.

"Well, I'm saying that we should take the other path!" I screamed back as I pointed to the left path.

"Oh yeah? I'd like you to tell me how many times our noses have been wrong!"

"I could tell you that, but I just remembered that you couldn't count that high!"

"Why you…!"

"Um… G-Guys-"

"Stay out of this!" Kiba and I yelled in unison and went back to yelling at each other.

The person who was stuttering earlier, that was Hinata Hyuga. She's okay… But if she's on the same team as Kiba, then I am not going to go easy on her, no matter how nice she is!

"Do you want to listen to me for once in your life?" Kiba yelled at me.

"Sorry, if I try to do that, then I'm afraid that would be the first and last time! We would all be dead if we listen to you!" I yelled back.

"What's that supposed to mean? How is listening to me going to get us killed? In case you haven't noticed, Akamaru and I have been sniffing out all of the traps!" Kiba yelled at me and Akamaru barked in agreement. "I don't know why we bother with you! We can do these missions just fine without you! You're just a burden to the team! You just get in the way! You're worse than anyone I've ever seen! You almost got us killed on a C-Ranked mission! C-Ranked!"

"I did not! That was you! You and the dog were the ones who rushed in there and tried to use your 'special move,' when you didn't even know how to control it!"

"Oh yeah? Then how about you try spinning around so fast and try to attack your opponent when you can barely see where you are going! Right, Akamaru?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Hey, I could do it for the first time, and I would still have a better chance at hitting the enemy!"

"If the enemy were the size of this universe, then maybe you could have a chance at hitting him! MAYBE!"

"G-Guys…" Hinata stuttered.

"What?" Kiba and I screamed at her.

"We have company…" Hinata replied as she pulled out a kunai knife. Now that we all had a close look at her, we could finally see that she had her Byakugan activated.

Kiba and Akamaru lifted their noses in the air.

"There's no mistaking that odor…" His voice now turned calm and serious. "It smells like… Ninja from the Hidden Mist and there are… Four of them…"

"Gee, did you figure all of that out by yourself, Sherlock?" I asked sarcastically. "Besides, that smell is probably from you not showering."

"This is really not the time…" Kiba said as his eyes darted towards me.

"I could easily beat these guys with my hands tied behind my back and with a blindfold!" I snapped back.

"Maybe, if you were trying to beat them in a contest to see who can get themselves killed first… Oh, wait a minute! You would already lose no matter what you did!"

"Are you saying that I'm weak?"

"Gee, did you figure all of that out by yourself, Sherlock?" Kiba mocked. My face was now extremely red, I could feel all of the heat, but Kiba continued anyway. "Alright here's the plan… You two take the scroll and rush out of here, while me and Akamaru have a little fun with these guys…" Kiba threw Hinata the scroll.

"That's your plan?" I asked. "Is this a joke?"

"Look, if Akamaru and I can't handle these guys, and I seriously doubt it, we'll need at least two people to protect that scroll… Besides, there could be other enemy ninja going after the scroll and you guys will need to have all of the might you can get. Listen, we could either stand here arguing about this, or we could actually focus on the mission." Hinata nodded at the 'fearless leader.' "Take the right path…" He mumbled.

"Fine then!" I screamed as Hinata and I jolted off. Who cares about that mutt, anyway? I think that it's now obvious who I am talking about.

"**Man Beast Clone**!" I heard Kiba yell out. He really needs to stop announcing his attacks like that. But it appears like that mutt is going with his very old strategy. The Fang Over Fang technique. I can do better than that though. As long as those mutts don't screw this up, then we should be fine.

~Howling at the Moon~

We were now in the Hokage's office. We had delivered the scroll to some scroll shop. Apparently, the woman working there 'accidently' sold the scroll that contained a bunch of secrets inside of it to one of the Jonin Leaf ninja while he was out on a mission. I think that woman needs to get some glasses. Hinata and I were the only ones in the room, besides Tsunade, Shizune, and the pig, Tonton. Kiba and his dog? They should be back soon. They have to be! Tsunade refuses to talk with us unless all of us are here. So now, we have to wait for that stupid fool. I don't mind Akamaru to be honest, I love animals. But if he is hanging around Kiba, then I'm going to treat him the same way I treat Kiba.

A knock on the door caused all of us to look at the wooden door.

"Lady Tsunade, it's Kiba and Akamaru…" Came Kiba's voice, followed by a yip from Akamaru. It only took those two forever!

"Enter." Tsunade simply said.

The door opened with Kiba giving everyone else a smile, when his eyes met mine, he glared at me and I returned that same glare. (Akamaru was in Kiba's coat) Kiba walked into the room while closing the door behind him and then he walked over next to Hinata, leaving her in between the two of us. We shared the glare for a while until we looked back at Tsunade.

"Alright," Tsunade began. "I want a report of the mission. How it went down exactly…"

We all began to tell the Hokage the details until she came across one certain subject.

"…And what happened to you two?" She asked as she referred to Kiba and Akamaru.

"There were enemy ninja around. So Akamaru and I stayed back to fight them." Kiba answered.

"And why did you leave it to yourselves?" Tsunade asked.

Kiba folded his arms. "You see, if two of us stayed back and fended off the Mist ninja, then the other two could escape with the scroll. We needed a good team to stay behind, and it just so happened that Akamaru and I were that team. We use the Fang over Fang technique, and it's a pretty strong TaiJutsu. If the others were hit by it then they could've been seriously hurt. It was a plan that had to be thought of quickly." The brunette answered. That guy thinks?

"…And what happened to your arm?"

Kiba pulled the sleeve of his coat a little and looked at the bandaged arm, blood was seeping onto the outside though. How come I didn't notice that?

"It's just a scratch." Kiba stated. "I didn't notice it until after the fight. It's not going to be any trouble." He reassured. Man, he talks too much.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "Dismissed. And in the future, try to be a little more careful."

"Yes, Lady Hokage." The three of us kids chorused as we left the room. Sadly, my house is in the direction that this mutt's house is in. So I guess we have to walk together. Darn. If I got to choose who to walk with, then I would easily choose Hinata.

"See you later, Hinata!" Kiba called out to the shy girl as we parted ways.

"Bye, Hinata!" I called out.

"Goodbye. I'll see you soon." Hinata 'called' out.

Kiba and I walked with each other for a while in silence. But, overtime, I noticed that something was troubling Akamaru. He whimpered softly while he looked up at his owner. Something must've happened while they faced those Mist guys. Eventually, Akamaru looked sadly at Kiba's bleeding arm and then he turned to me and gave me a pleading look. Something's wrong with Kiba… I shook that thought off. No! I am not concerned about that mutt.

Another strange thing happened while we were walking. Kiba looked a little… No. Scratch that! He looked very tired. It's rare to see Kiba like this. His eyelids dropping and he had to pinch his good arm to stop himself from collapsing. He was panting quite heavily. It was like he had just ran a marathon around half of the world or something. That stupid mutt even fell behind me one or two times. It's strange to see 'the great beast, Kiba' like this. He has always been a wild one. He would constantly challenge people to a race, he would take on whatever mission, not to mention that he spends a lot of time training. I personally think that he is trying to catch up to Naruto. I have always seen a little bit of jealousy in Kiba's eyes after that time he was defeated by the blonde.

"Is it me? Or is it really hot out here?" Kiba asked. I don't think Kiba even knows who he is talking to. Kiba used his good arm to wipe the sweat off of his forehead.

"I think that you have officially gone crazy, mutt." I stated. Kiba looked over at me.

"Seriously, aren't you feeling this heat?" Kiba asked me again.

"Maybe if you took that coat of yours off, then that wouldn't be a problem, would it?" I asked, trying to get the message through that thick head of his.

Kiba shrugged. "I don't have…To listen to you…" Kiba said, panting.

"I think you need to get your brain checked, mutt." I said, thinking if he even had a brain. "It's winter, how could it possibly be hot?"

"Shut…Up…" Kiba mumbled as Akamaru let out another small whimper. Kiba looked down at the white pup. "I'll get your food… In a second…" Kiba mumbled. He sounded like he had barely got any sleep and he had just got woken up. And I'm pretty sure that's not what Akamaru said. I scratched my head in confusion. This guy has suddenly become even weirder than he was. And here I was thinking that it wasn't possible.

"Listen, dog breath, you're embarrassing me. If you continue to play games with me, then your face will have a special appointment with the back of my hand." I warned the dog boy.

"…So…Hot…" Kiba mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked the boy, hoping that I didn't take it the wrong way.

"It's too… Hot out here…" Kiba complained. "Am I home…Yet…?"

Oh boy… "Yeah, you're home." I answered. I have got to get away from this guy… "Now go." I ordered as Kiba walked over to his house. The dogs behind the fence were barking their hellos to Kiba, but he didn't answer as friendly as he could have been.

"Shut up!" I heard him yell at the top of his lungs. I stared at the brunette as all of the dogs silenced themselves. Kiba opened the front door and walked inside and disappeared out of my sights. Now I** know **that something's up. Kiba isn't the guy to yell at any ninja hound, let alone his own dogs. Kiba won't be the safest guy to be around on missions… Kiba probably will be hallucinating or being angry too much to even sniff out any of the other ninja. Heck! He probably won't even smell beef jerky. That is pretty much all I ever see him eat…

I walked away from the Inuzuka compound. This is too much to handle. I do not want to walk with Kiba ever again if he is going to complain or have really bad anger issues… He should probably see his vet about that.

After a small amount of walking and thinking, I finally made it to my home. It is about time! I can finally stop thinking about what happened earlier. I unlocked the door and walked in and locked the door again. My mother should be home. She doesn't go out that often unless she needs to buy food or something like that. My mum likes to keep the door locked. 'You can never be too careful.' She always says to me. Speaking of mum…

I walked through the house and I found my mother flicking through some pages of a book or something on the lounge.

"Hey mum, what're you doing?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm just looking through some of your old photos." Mum answered casually. She's what? Not without me she doesn't! I plopped myself onto the lounge and looked at the folder that was filled with photos from ages ago.

"Look at this one!" My mother said happily as she pointed at a photo. "It's all of us. You, me, your father and your brother!" I don't see why that's so special. We see each other all of the time. Big whoop! My mother flicked to another page and let out an 'aw'. "And this one's of you and that boy when you were kids…! What was his name again…? Kiba… Kiba Inuzuka! That's right!"

The heat rushed to my face. "Mother… Can we skip to the next page?" I asked. This photo was taken when I was like… Six or something…?

The photo was simple enough. My six year old self was there with an arm around her neck. That arm belonged to… Kiba. He had a pretty goofy look on his face. He had a cheeky grin and mischief glowed in his eyes. When we first met… Kiba was just a little goofball… Now he's… Well, he's still a goofball, just annoying…

_~Flashback~_

_I sat on the branch of a tree… Alone… Watching all of the kids playing with each other, laughing with each other and looked like they were having fun with one another. I sighed sadly. I was never invited to play with the other kids. I don't know why, but they just didn't like me. I hadn't done anything to deserve being ignored. Sighing, I lay down comfortably on the large branch and closed my sapphire blue eyes for a moment. Next moment when I opened my eyes, there was a kid with brown hair and some sort of marks on his cheeks staring down at me._

"_Hey!" The stranger said cheerfully. I squealed in surprise almost falling off of the branch, until a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me from falling down. The brunette pulled me up onto the branch again, frowning._

"_Didn't mean to frighten you…" He said apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head._

"_That's fine…" I mumbled back as I let my tiny legs swing back and forth off the branch._

_The brunette sat down and did the same. "What're you doing up here alone?" He asked me._

"… _I don't have friends, so I can't play with anyone…" I answered._

"_Come on… Everybody makes friends some point in their life." The stranger said to me. How can he be so calm?_

"_Well I don't." I replied._

"_What are you talking about? You have two friends, silly…" The stranger said to me. I looked at him confused._

"_Who?" I asked him._

"_Us!" The boy answered._

"_Us who…?" I wondered._

_I heard a bark come from underneath the boy's shirt and down the bottom came a small white puppy. The dog walked cautiously on the branch and licked my hand. I jerked away a little, surprised by this sudden act, but the white ball of fluff proceeded to tickle my hand with its small tongue. I giggled. That was the first time in a long while that I had done that._

"_See! We're your friends!" The brunette announced a little too loudly._

"_But… Aren't friends supposed to know each other's names?" I asked softly._

_The boy raised an eyebrow. "Okay… My name's Kiba Inuzuka and this is my friend Akamaru!"_

"_My name's Hikari…" I introduced myself to Kiba and Akamaru._

_Kiba raised an eyebrow._

"_Hikari? As in 'light'?" He asked. I nodded._

"_Kiba…? As in 'fang'? And Akamaru, meaning 'red'?" I asked. Kiba nodded. "But… Akamaru… His fur is white… How come…" I trailed off, not being able to find the right words._

"_You'll see why soon…" Kiba answered as if knowing what I was going to say. "Akamaru and I are going to be the ultimate ninja tag team!"_

_My eyes widened. "But… Are you going to really bring this little guy into battle?" I asked in surprise._

"_All of the people of my clan do. All of the Inuzuka's have a partner to train with. Akamaru and I do everything together." Kiba answered._

"_Still…" I began with uncertainty. Kiba scooped up Akamaru in his arms with a smile on his face._

"_Let's go. It'll be much nicer if we chat while we walk. To be honest, I can't stand sitting still… That's the reason I often get yelled at." Kiba told me with the smile glued to his face. He held out a hand to help lift me up, with Akamaru safely held in the other arm. I grabbed Kiba's hand and he pulled me up, however, he didn't let go of my hand._

"_Umm…" I began quietly._

"_On my signal, jump, okay?" Kiba stated._

"_Wait I-"_

"_Jump!" He yelled out. I got the message. I didn't want to end up like a pancake so I jumped with Kiba as he yelled out, "Yahoo!"_

_~End of Flashback~_

"You two were really cute friends…" My mother said, interrupting my flashback. "By the way, how is Kiba? Does he still live around here? I haven't seen him for a while. Did you want me to invite him and his family around for dinner?" My mother asked quickly. It's another one of 'those' moments.

"Whoa mother, one question at a time… Okay… Yes… And you can't do that." I answered.

"Why not?" My mother said, sounding a little disappointed.

"One. I know that his family isn't home because before we reached the house, the dogs weren't barking like crazy. And two. We just came back from a mission and Kiba has this really gross wound and he is being weirder than normal…" I explained.

"Maybe next time then…" My mother trailed off into her own thoughts as she quietly mumbled some things to herself. "He's a nice kid…"

Pft. Yeah right. Maybe in the next millennia.

"Kiba isn't that hurt is he?" My mother asked concerned.

"If by 'isn't hurt,' you mean that the wound is bleeding through his bandages, 'isn't hurt,' then yeah. He's peachy." I answered.

My mother gasped and then she fainted. My eyes widened. I sometimes wonder if my mother is actually Hinata in some sort of disguise. I poked my mother's nose. Again… And again… Nothing happened… Well she's out for the day… I guess I'll just have to go out to eat tonight… Until then… I relaxed and read a magazine, but that was short lived as I remembered Akamaru's pleading face, begging for me to help his owner.

"_-this is my friend Akamaru!"_

Stupid Kiba. He's getting into my head now. I threw the magazine back onto the coffee table and stood up. Maybe if I get something into my stomach that will help… I guess that I will have to have an early dinner tonight…

~Howling at the Moon~

I sat at the Ichiraku Noodle Stand, waiting for my ramen to be served. It wasn't that crowed here. I'm surprised that the blonde version of Kiba isn't here. Finally! There is actually going to be some food left for me. He always eats all of the ramen that he would have to be inhuman to eat that much.

"Here you go!" The owner said as he gave me the bowl of ramen.

"Thanks." I replied. I stared down at the bowl of ramen. That brings back memories…

_~Flashback~_

_I sat down on the lounge as I read a book. It was a romance novel. I somehow got interested in these when I saw my mother reading it. It sounds lovely. To be in love I mean… It would be nice. There are also signs in the book to tell if a guy is in love with you or not. One. Surprising you with presents… Two. Offering to take you to dinner…. Three. He'll make a good impression on your parents… Four. He'll give you nice compliments. Five. He'll give you a pleasant surprise of his own. This is different for each guy and girl. Everyone is different with their methods… It looks like I will have to wait at least nine years for this kind of stuff to happen._

_My father sat next to me as he looked over my shoulder and onto the pages of the book._

"_Isn't that your mother's book?" He asked me._

"_Yeah… I began to read it last week…" I answered._

"_It seems like you've made through quite a bit." Father observed._

_I chuckled. "Dad. I was wondering… What is normally a special surprise that guys give to girls that they like?" I asked curiously._

"_Well, you'll have to figure that out for yourself." Dad answered._

"_I knew that I should've asked mother about this. You probably don't know what guys think." I said, sighing._

_My father frowned. "Hey…" He said, sounding insulted._

_The doorbell rang so suddenly that it made me jump a little, but mother had already rushed to get it._

"_Father, if you were an animal, I'd say that you'd be a monkey." I said randomly._

"_Hey, who taught you this stuff?" He asked, being insulted again. I shrugged._

"_Nobody." I answered._

"_Hikari! Your friend is here!" My mother yelled out to me from the front door. Friend? Kiba?_

_I gave the book to my father and I stood up and quickly and ran to the door, seeing Kiba's cheeky face with Akamaru besides him._

"_Hey, Hikari!" Kiba said as cheerfully as always._

"_Hey, Kiba, Akamaru." I replied. I noticed that Kiba had something hidden in his hands. I raised an eyebrow._

"_I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to Ichiraku's for lunch." Kiba said as he placed something in my hand._

"_Is it with anyone else…?" I asked._

"_Nah! It's just you, me and Akamaru." Kiba answered._

_I looked over at my mother and she smiled and looked down at Kiba._

"_Will you be gone long?" She asked._

"_Not really, I have to do stuff with Akamaru later, so maybe an hour or so…" Kiba replied with the back of his head resting against his arms. "She'll be safe with me…" He promised._

"_Aw… That's sweet… Very well, Hikari you go get your coat." Mother told me. I nodded and went off to my room. I grabbed a hold of my black coat when a thought crossed my mind._

_Could this be…? No. That couldn't happen. We're just friends… There's no way that Kiba could really, you know… Right?_

_I pulled my coat on and ran back to the front door._

"_Nice coat." Kiba blurted out. My eyes widened. "Alright, let's go before Blondie eats everything." I nodded._

"_See you soon honey…" Mother said to me as she gave me a kiss on the forehead._

"_Bye mother." I replied as I walked out the door._

_Okay, I just have to relax. This just might be what Kiba does._

"_Hey," Kiba said. I looked over at him._

"_What is it?" I asked._

"_Did you take a look at what I gave you?"_

_I looked at what Kiba placed in my hand earlier. It was a miniature glass sculpture of a dog. I smiled._

"_I love it…" I announced._

"_Glad that you do…" Kiba said proudly. "Akamaru and I picked it out ourselves."_

"_Well, it is the best gift that anyone has ever given me."_

_Kiba chuckled and soon enough, we reached the ramen stand. We took our seats and the owner walked over to us._

"_What can I get for you?" He asked._

"_Two bowls of miso ramen." Kiba turned to me. "Is that okay?"_

"_Yep!" I answered. Kiba smiled._

"_Coming right up!" The owner said._

_Kiba took Akamaru off of his lap and placed him on the seat next to him. Kiba then looked through his bag and pulled out a dog bowl and a carton of milk. He placed the dog bowl in front of the dog on the ramen stand and poured the milk._

"_Drink up buddy!"Kiba said to his furry friend. Akamaru yipped happily and stood up on his hind legs, enjoying the flavour._

_Kiba looked over at me with the smile still on his face._

"_So, why did you invite me to lunch…?" I asked, feeling a little awkward. I needed to know what was going on._

_Kiba looked at me in confusion, but with the smile still on his face._

"_It's simple… It's because-"_

"_Here you go!" The owner of the shop said to us as he placed the bowls of ramen in front of us._

"_Thanks!" Kiba and I chorused._

_We began to eat our ramen and it seemed that Kiba loved his ramen. But he sort of ate like a dog… No offence…_

"_You know what would make this place even better? Beef jerky! And lot's of it too!" Kiba said as he still had food in his mouth._

"_You must really like beef jerky…" I said to the brunette._

"_You have no idea…!" Kiba replied._

_We talked and finished our ramen and we had about ten minutes to talk and do other stuff._

"_Don' worry, I'll handle this..." Kiba said to me as he placed down more than enough ryo to pay for our meal._

"_Kiba, you don't need to do that… Besides, there is too much." I said to the brunette._

"_Nah! It's my treat. I was planning on paying for it anyway." Kiba replied._

"_If you're sure…"_

"_I'm positive."_

"_Well, Kiba…" I began._

"_Hm?"_

"_I was wondering why you invited me to lunch…" I said softly._

"_What do you mean?" Kiba asked with confusion._

"_Well, this isn't a um…" I trailed off as Kiba looked like he was going to explode. He covered his mouth as his face turned red, and before I knew it, Kiba was in fits of laughs. It was that bad that he even had tears forming in his eyes._

"_Nah!" He said, still laughing. "S-So, let m-me get this straight… Y-You thought that this was a…" Kiba's fits of laughter came back even louder this time. "A… D-Date?"_

_My face turned red._

"_Well, how else can you explain how things are turning out?" I asked._

"_This is what I do when I'm bored. I invite friends and other people out for lunch. I literally invite anyone. I even invited this one guy who I knew for like five minutes, and he wouldn't shut up about 'the spirit of youth!' So we got curry instead of ramen and then I had to run eight-hundred laps around the village…" Kiba replied as he stopped his laughing._

"_Oh…" Now I'm embarrassed. "Well," I was at a loss for words._

_Kiba looked at his watch. "Sorry, I have to go. It was a nice date…"_

"_What!?" I screamed._

"_Ha! Gotcha! But seriously, I have to go; otherwise, my mother will kill me! Let's go Akamaru! See you later, Hikari!" Kiba called out to me as he and Akamaru left. (He has already cleaned up all of Akamaru's things.)_

"_Bye!" I called out. What have I just done?_

_~End of Flashback~_

I mentally slapped myself. No! I am not having another memory of that idiot! No! I can't stand this stand! I laid down some ryo in front of myself and left.

I was walking back home and on the way, I heard something howling. It was coming from the Inuzuka compound. I scrunched up my face and with a huff, I walked away. I wonder if mother has recovered yet. I'm also wondering if the boys are going to be home…

~Howling at the Moon ~

I walked inside my house and quickly made a break to my room. I really wanted too just lie down and get some sleep. I lay myself down on my bed and dropped my eyes. I don't care at this moment that I am still in my day clothes; I just want to get that mutt out of my head.

Why is it that all of the sudden, that mutt is all I can think about? Once I get some sleep, my mind should be back to its old self again… Let's just hope that dog boy isn't acting like a total weirdo…

~Howling at the Moon~

I walked along the footpath, and just my luck, Kiba just so happened to walk out of the Inuzuka compound. Great… Now I get to watch him yell at dogs and hear him complaining about how 'hot' it is.

Kiba walked next to me with Akamaru walking besides him, his head lowered.

"Not too 'hot' is it, Inuzuka?" I asked with sarcasm.

"What are you talking about you idiot? This is the coldest Winter that we've had in a long time… Why would you think that it's hot?" Kiba replied.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me, dog breath? Yesterday you said, and I quote, 'It's too… Hot out here…Am I home…Yet…?'" I mocked.

"You really are an idiot! I would've remembered that!" Kiba yelled back. He then rubbed both of his arms while he shivered, and his teeth chattering.

I stopped walking and placed a hand on Kiba's forehead. He had a fever. His forehead could be a volcano waiting to erupt for all we know. Kiba flicked my hand away from his forehead.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed at me.

"Kiba, for heaven's sake, stop screaming. We're in public for crying out loud." I replied as I grabbed his wrist.

"I said 'don't touch me'! What do you think you're doing?" Kiba asked as I dragged him along.

"I'm taking you to Lady Tsunade. She should know what is wrong with you. It's starting to annoy me even more than you used to." I answered.

"Well maybe, you should stop dragging people along whenever you like! If you wanted me to see her than you should've asked!"

"Be quiet. We're in public. I thought that I have told you that already."

"Shut up! You can't tell me what to do!"

"I just did."

Kiba growled and with that, nothing more was said. Yeah, that's what I thought…

~Howling at the Moon~

We have made it to the Hokage's office and now we are checking out what could be the mutt's deal… Tsunade and I talked in private while Kiba was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, pouting.

"So what's been happening with him…?" Tsunade asked so quietly that only I could hear her.

"We'll first, he was complaining about being really hot yesterday, even though it was pretty cool… He's also been having…Anger issues. He is yelling at his dogs like he doesn't even care. Then today, he forgot all about what happened with the heat and the yelling and well, he still had his anger issues, then he came down with a fever and was shivering like crazy…" I explained.

Tsunade glanced over at Kiba, who glared right back at her.

"What? What are you looking at?" Kiba yelled. Tsunade glared right back at him and turned back to me.

"I can see what you mean with his anger… It could just be a common cold, but he looked perfectly fine yesterday…" Tsunade trailed off as she walked over to Kiba. Akamaru whimpered. I looked at him, but then followed Tsunade over to Kiba.

"Do you mind?" Kiba yelled at Tsunade as she put a hand on his forehead. "Has nobody here ever heard of personal space?"

"Zip it Inuzuka!" I defended the Hokage. "Tsunade is trying to help you here."

"Shut up you idiot!" Kiba yelled at me.

"Stop it Kiba. Try to calm down!" Tsunade said to the brunette.

"You can't tell me what to do, grandma!" Kiba yelled. I could see that Tsunade was using all of her willpower to not hit him.

Tsunade removed her hand from Kiba's forehead and sighed.

"Well, you're right about the fever part too." Tsunade mumbled.

"Aren't I always right?" I asked.

Tsunade ignored me and reached for Kiba's injured arm, but Kiba grabbed tightly on Tsunade's wrist.

"What did I say about touching me?" Kiba said as his voice turned into a deep growl, revealing his fangs. Tsunade snatched her hand away from the growling brunette with a frown. Tsunade and I walked away from Kiba to talk in private once again.

"What are we going to do?" I asked with concern. No. I am not concerned about Kiba. I'm concerned about the next people that have to go on a mission with him.

"I need to have a look at that wound that Kiba received yesterday, but Kiba is too unstable, I'll need help holding him down…" Tsunade replied.

"You think that wound is what's causing this?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade nodded slightly. Akamaru walked over to us with his head lowered. He then looked up at the two of us sadly and whimpered. It's obvious that the poor thing has never seen Kiba looking this scary before. I have to admit, even I am a little frightened. Kiba, that fool, the guy who couldn't stay still, the guy who would skip class to tick off the sensei, the guy who had the softest spot for dogs despite how fierce he can be in battle… There is no way in this world that that thing could be him…

"_-To be honest, I can't stand sitting still… That's the reason I often get yelled at."_

"_-Hikari? As in 'light'?"_

"_-__**Man Beast Clone**__!"_

"_-You know what would make this place even better? Beef jerky! And lot's of it too!"_

"_-Yahoo!"_

Kiba, because of whatever happened to you; I can't get you out of my head! I hate it! I really do!

As if on cue, a knock on the door attracted all of the attention in the room. Kiba groaned in annoyance, probably not wanting to see any more people…

"Who is it?" Tsunade asked.

"It's Shizune, milady." The voice from the outside said. Our eyes widened and we smiled.

"This couldn't be more perfect." I said to no one in particular.

"Enter!" Tsunade called out. The door opened with Tonton in Shizune's arms.

"I hope that I'm not interrupting anything…" Shizune said as Kiba gave her a mean glare.

"No, actually, I was just about to call for you… Come here…" Tsunade replied. Shizune walked over, a little uncomfortable with Kiba glaring at her every move.

"What's going on Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked as she glanced over at the Inuzuka.

"Hikari will explain the situation to you…" Tsunade replied. I nodded and I began to explain what's been happening with Kiba.

…

"And that's why we need help holding him down…" I finished.

Shizune nodded.

"I'll do anything I can to help." She replied.

"Alright, you two hold him down while I check his wound now…" Tsunade ordered. Shizune and I nodded.

The two of us walked over to Kiba and stood in front of him. He glared up at us.

"What do you want?" He growled. Shizune and I didn't reply, instead we both stood on a foot each to prevent him from kicking and we grabbed onto the top of his arms and his wrists.

Kiba growled, but didn't say anything more. Tsunade pulled up the sleeve of his coat and removed the bandages that looked like they were wrapped on this morning. There was some dried up blood around the wound, but there was still some blood pouring out.

"Yesterday, you were facing ninja from the Hidden Mist, correct?" Tsunade asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah that's right… But what does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well, ninja from the Hidden Mist often use poison to kill their enemies… But it seems like they have placed some sort of infection in this wound. I don't know why they didn't choose to kill Kiba with the poison… It's obvious that he didn't know that poison was their game… So killing him would've been simple… But instead, they chose to infect Kiba with something…" Tsunade explained.

I was wondering why it was so quiet now… I looked at the brunette, and it turns out that he had fallen asleep. Thank goodness that's over… Shizune and I let go of Kiba and stepped back a little.

"That infection caused all of this?" I asked, hoping that I heard right.

Tsunade nodded.

"But, are you able to stop it?" I asked. Tsunade did not respond.

"Well?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure… I specialize in Medical Ninjutsu, not 'get rid of the random infection that you know nothing about Ninjutsu.'" Tsunade said as she folded her arms. I frowned. Well, this certainly wasn't helping… At all.

I looked back at the snoozing Inuzuka.

"What are we going to do with it?" I asked. I really don't think Kiba is a person anymore, just a monster.

Tsunade sighed. "We'll need someone to keep an eye on him…" She then looked at me. My eyes widened.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! There is no way that I am going to spend my time, keeping an eye on this idiot! You can forget it!" I yelled at the Hokage, knowing what she was thinking.

"I think you are forgetting who you are talking to, Hikari. I am the Hokage, and you will do what I say. Besides, you were the one who brought him here. So, I am holding you responsible…" Tsunade replied to me as she wrapped new bandages around Kiba's bleeding arm.

I sighed in defeat. There was no way that I was going to get around this. "Fine…" I moaned, looking down at the shaking dog near my leg. I picked him up and stroked him gently.

"It's going to be okay, boy…" I said softly.

_**A/N: And so, there is the first chapter to Howling at the Moon! I hope that you all liked it! Usually I would like to have puns and stuff in it, but those might come later…**_

_**Review please! I am still doing my other Naruto story, I just did this for fun. I want to get something done this year… Besides, if I didn't write this down then the thought wouldn't stop annoying me…**_

_**To be continued…**_


	2. A New Hope!

_**DISCLAIMER:**_

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. NARUTO AND ALL RELATED PRODUCTS BELONG TO THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT, AND MY OWN CHARACTERS. PLEASE SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL RELEASE.**_

Howling at the moon, chapter two: A New Hope

_**Hikari's POV:**_

I was walking through the village with the unconscious mutt over my shoulder. Akamaru followed closely behind, whimpering as he saw his master's unconscious face.

"I can't believe that I'm stuck with this stupid mutt…" I muttered to myself. "I really feel like the underdog." Akamaru whimpered again, but I tried to ignore it. It was a little hard considering my weak spot for animals.

I made it to the Inuzuka compound and it was only then that I realized that I didn't have a key. I put Kiba down and searched his pockets for one, but with no success. I walked over to the door in a foul mood.

"Damn it!" I hissed as I banged my head onto the door. The door began to creek open. I face-palmed. The damn door was unlocked the entire time. Stupid Kiba… I didn't bother putting the mutt over my shoulder, so I dragged him in by his wrist.

"Come on boy." I said gently to Akamaru. Akamaru slowly made his way inside and I closed the front door. I wonder how often these guys get robbed.

I brought Kiba in to what seemed to be Kiba's room. Messy, dirty, just like Kiba. I lay Kiba on his bed without covering him with any blankets. He's the one who complained about being hot; I'm just trying to make the leader of the pack happy. Soon enough, I'm going to have to say 'yes your majesty.'

I sat myself on a chair and picked up Akamaru and sat him on my lap. I began to stroke the white ball of fur gently as he looked over at the brunette. He looked up at me and whimpered.

One of these days, Kiba is going to have to pay me back big time for this…

If only his family were home. He told me that his sister was a vet and his mother was a ninja. I also heard something along the lines of 'anger issues.' Now I know where Kiba got it from. But Kiba never spoke about his father for some reason… Oh well. The point is that if either one of them was home then I could get out of doing this stupid thing… But the world just hates me… Damn…

"I don't know how in the name of cheese you put up with this guy…" I said to Akamaru. He whimpered. "He's going to be okay. But if he has any anger issues when he wakes up then I swear that he's going to have some one on one time with my fist!" Akamaru cocked his head to the side. "I did so make sense!"

I scrunched up my face. Akamaru barked. What?

"I need a translator for you…" I said as I raised an eyebrow. Akamaru swung his head back face Kiba and barked. I looked at Kiba and he dug his nails so deep into the palms of both of his hands that they were actually bleeding. I quickly sat Akamaru down on the ground and rushed off to Kiba and held his hand to take a look at what has just happened.

"Idiot… How come you used your Beast Mimicry?" I asked, not expecting an answer. Kiba breathed heavily as he began to sweat all across his face and then all of the sudden, he let out a large scream. My eyes widened. I've never seen Kiba like this before. I quickly placed a hand on his forehead and he had another fever. Akamaru, can you show me where your bandages are? I'll also need some ice." I asked the puppy. Akamaru barked and raced off out of Kiba's room. I carefully placed Kiba's hand back onto the bed, but that just made Kiba scream even louder. I quickly ran off after Akamaru. I wonder if these guys get complaints often.

~Howling at the Moon~

Akamaru and I came back into Kiba's room. I held the bandages and ice in my hand. I started off by placing the bag of ice on Kiba's head. I'm not a medical ninja, so I don't know anything about this stuff. When I placed the bag of ice on Kiba's forehead, he stopped panting and lowered his screaming, but he was really loud when I tried to wrap the bandages around his hands.

Somehow, I survived and Kiba was all bandaged up and was calming down. Thank Kami…

Kiba stirred and muttered something that I am going to put into the category of 'I can't understand.' Sometimes, I think Kiba is an alien…

Akamaru jumped onto Kiba's bed and lay down next to his face. Akamaru whimpered as he looked sadly at him master's face. The small puppy licked Kiba's cheek. I frowned. If he wakes up… I swear, I will punch him in the face!

Kiba's eyes fluttered open and he looked over at his companion.

"Hey, Akamaru…" He said, still half asleep. I restrained myself from punching Kiba in the face, but it was pretty hard. At least he doesn't have an attitude…

Kiba tried his best to sit up, but he failed miserably. It was amusing to watch.

"Dude, I'm starting to think that you can't get up…" I said sarcastically.

"Really…?" Kiba replied sarcastically. "What was your first clue?"

"Well, you have one wounded arm, two bleeding hands and a lot of brain damage." I answered with a grin. Kiba looked at his two bandaged hands.

"I'm pretty sure that I don't have brain damage."

"You're right. You're just stupid."

Kiba growled in anger.

"What are you doing here anyway? I'm pretty sure that I didn't invite you over to watch me sleep and insult me…" Kiba asked with a frown.

"Well, I have to look after you while you are hurt apparently. I don't like the idea any more than you do but-"

"So you mean you have to do what I ask you to do?"

"What?" I screamed.

"Well, I will like some beef jerky…"

"I'm not getting anything for you!"

Kiba frowned. "I seriously don't know how you are a ninja… You can fight of dangerous ninja from other villages, but you can't even get me a simple bag full of beef jerky? That's the saddest thing that I've ever heard…"

"Shut up, Inuzuka!"

"What happened to mutt and dog breath? I think that you're not telling me something…" Kiba's frown curled into a grin.

"Or is it possible that you're actually starting to like me now?" He asked smartly.

My face turned red. "I…You…" I couldn't find the right words and let out a sigh. "You win…"

"Always do…" Kiba replied with a chuckle.

"Just tell me where the damn beef jerky is…"

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "I knew that you aren't so bright, but I thought that you would at least know that I kept beef jerky in my bag you idiot…"

"Kiba!" I covered my mouth. "Mutt!" I corrected myself.

"Aw… So you're calling me by 'Kiba' now, are you?" Kiba's grin grew. "Wow, you must be really into me…"

"I am not! Not in a million years! No way!" I defended myself.

"Look, are you going to get it or not?" Kiba asked with a frown.

I stomped over to Kiba's bag and I didn't have to really search for it. The bag was full of beef jerky.

"Do you really need this much beef jerky?" I asked.

"Do you really need to be so nosy?" Kiba asked. I pouted and grabbed a bag of the brunette's favourite food. I walked over to his bed and threw it on top of him. He winced a little. He can't possibly be that hurt… Baby.

"Easy, I'm the injured one here." Kiba informed me.

"Anything else you want?" I asked angrily.

"Yeah… This is kind of awkward but…" Kiba trailed off with a light chuckle.

I got where he was going with this and I shook my head. "No! No way! I'm not doing that!" I screamed.

"Hey, I don't like it either. Trust me; I do not want you doing it at all. But my hands won't move, after all, all that I'm going to lose is my pride…" Kiba agreed.

"What do you want me to do? Just drop the whole bag full into your mouth?" I asked sarcastically. Kiba smirked. "You are such a pig!"

"Well, this way I can say that you didn't really feed me and you can… Um… Not get your hands 'messy?'" Kiba replied.

"Great motivation…" I said sarcastically.

"I try…" Kiba smirked. I groaned. "But leave half for Akamaru."

"Make up your mind, dumb one." I raised an eyebrow.

"When you get one…" Kiba said.

"No beef jerky for you tonight…" I pouted.

"Actually, my sister should be home later… So just leave once she comes." Kiba told me.

"I know what to do…"

"Really…? That's new…" Kiba chuckled.

"Once this is over, I will punch you!" I warned.

"I'm so scared…" Kiba said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at me.

"You have been warned, mutt…" I replied as I dropped some beef jerky into his mouth. He chomped away happily.

"That's good stuff…" Kiba said after he swallowed the jerky down.

~Howling at the Moon~

I walked through the front door of my house after spending the rest of my afternoon looking after that mutt. After he ate, he had fallen asleep and not too long after, his sister came back. So I didn't have to put up with Kiba anymore than I had to.

I walked into the lounge room with my mother cooking dinner. She turned to me.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" She asked.

I groaned. "Honestly, I don't know how I survived! I had to spend the entire day looking after Kiba today because he got himself hurt…!" I answered. My mother dropped a glass cup on the ground, causing it to shatter.

Mother spun around quickly. "What happened to him? Is he okay? Anything fatal?" She asked quickly.

"Slow… Down… Ninja just gave him a cut on the arm. At this point, Tsunade says that it won't kill Kiba, but some sort of infection has entered his body…" I answered. I wonder if she worries about me this much…

"Kiba is a nice boy…" Mother sighed. I raised my eyebrows at her. "He doesn't deserve to be hurt…"

I scoffed. "Anything can happen to him for all I care; I just don't want to spend another day with him…!" I replied.

"You used to be so excited whenever Kiba came over to see you… This rivalry between the both of you has gone on for far too long…"

"I've grown up. At the end of the day, it's like having some sort of pest living with you."

"You know that it's in his blood. He's energetic. He likes to have fun… Besides, he was always a big help. He helped you get over your fear of roller coasters…"

"Yeah. And then once we got off the death trap, I vomited like three times."

Mother sighed. "I think you need some fresh air… Go outside for a while… When your father and brother get back you'll need to be calm…"

"Fine…" I sighed and walked right out of the house. I walked over to the woods to find my special spot that I used to hang out at. I ran through the woods and finally found a hidden flower field. I smiled and lay on my back, looking up at the sky. The stars twinkled in the darkness and tonight was a full moon. Not to mention the light, cool breeze that flew across my face.

Maybe it was a good idea to come out here to clear my head. I'm not even going to think about _him_ as long as I'm out here.

Once again… Tonight I heard howling. I shot up and looked around. I bit my lip as my eyes jotted across the area.

I heard growling coming from behind. I was shaking all over as sweat drops trickled down my face. But I still turned my head around, only to find myself staring into the golden eyes of a wolf.

"Umm… Sit boy…" I said nervously to the white wolf, knowing full well that that wasn't going to work.

The wolf had white fur all over, but the face was a little different. Running over both eyes, were scar-like red facial marks and in the middle of his face was some sort of symbol that looked like a sun.

The wolf took a step forward as I took a step away from it. The wolf sniffed at me for a moment and his ears perked up. It gave me a puppy smile and he then chased his tail happily for a while. I raised an eyebrow. After the wolf was done chasing its' tail, he then sat down and barked happily.

I crouched down and scratched the wolf behind his ears.

"What are you doing around here, buddy?" I asked softly. "I never knew that wolves came around to Konoha…" The wolf whimpered. "What is it?"

The wolf looked up at me sadly. It was only then that I noticed that one of his front legs was severely injured. A large cut… It looks like the one that Kiba's got. I smacked my hand against my head. The wolf cocked its' head to the side at my sudden action. I stood up. The wolf stared up at me sadly.

"You're going to have to come with me. I didn't bring any supplies with me, so I'm going to have to sneak you into my house." At this the wolf wagged his tail happily as we walked back to my place. I placed a hand on my chin. "…Or I could take you to Kiba's…" I suggested. The wolf froze in place. I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder at him. "You wouldn't know him. He's a goofball, but his entire family works with dogs. So they would know what to do better than I would… It's not that late, so I won't be intruding…" I was going to walk again, but the golden-eyed creature bit my hand gently to stop me. I turned back to him. He let go of my hand and shook his head. "My place then?" I asked. The wolf howled a yes. "Okay then…" We walked off to my house once again.

~Howling at the Moon~

"I can't believe that I have to sneak into my own room…" I muttered as the two of us hid in the bushes. The wolf whimpered. "Don't worry about it…" I reassured my furry friend.

"Don't worry about what?" A cool sounding voice asked from behind us. I turned around and it ended up being my brother.

"Cloud? What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I have questions too…" Cloud whispered. "Why are we sneaking into your room? Who's the dog? And why are we whispering…?"

I face-palmed.

"It's a wonder how you managed to make Jonin level…" I muttered. "I'm sneaking into the house because of the 'no animals allowed' rule. I found the guy… Somewhere… And we're whispering so then we don't get caught." I answered.

Cloud scratched his chin.

"Just think of this like some of your ninja training…" I said.

"Sure…" Cloud replied with a grin. "Anything for my little sis…" Cloud ruffled my hair.

"Stop it…" I hissed. "Okay, this is what we're going to do… Cloud, you distract-" I was cut off by my brother grabbing me and the white wolf and he began to walk on the wall up to my room's window. Thank goodness that I always leave my window open. It comes with its advantages. Cloud loosened his grip and sat us into my room, but he also came in too.

"Or you could do that…" I corrected myself. I walked over to my medical bag and grabbed the ointment and bandages. I crouched down and rubbed some ointment onto the wound. The wolf whimpered in pain. "Shh…" I said gently. "It's okay…" The wolf nodded as I began to wrap some bandages around the cut.

"Whoa. It's like he can understand you or something…" Cloud said in shock.

"What was your first clue? The fact that he agreed to follow me here, or him nodding?" I asked sarcastically.

"Just because you and your boyfriend aren't getting along, doesn't mean that you have the right to take it out on me…" Cloud replied. My blood boiled, knowing who he was referring to.

"Shut up, Cloud. You're sounding like that idiot more and more." I hissed.

"Well?" Cloud said.

"'Well' what?" I asked.

"Well, what are we going to name him? We might have to look after him for a while…" Cloud answered.

I sighed. I was on full medical duty. "I don't know… What do you think?" I asked.

"I think-"

"No! We are not naming him Cloud Junior."

"But it's the best name ever…"

"In your dreams bro…" I said as I scratched my head. There was a moment of silence.

"I don't know why…" Cloud began. "But for some reason, this little guy reminds me of… You know… Kiba…" At this, the wolf's ears perked up. He let out a light bark of disagreement. I love this guy! He hasn't even met Kiba and already he hates him! What a smart wolf…

"This guy isn't like Kiba at all…" I pouted. "He actually seems human compared to Kiba…"

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked curiously.

"The mutt has an infection… It's because of those Mist ninja. Dog Breath has had a few side effects…" I answered.

"Like?"

"Memory loss, anger problems, sweating, fevers, feeling hot, that sort of thing. But nothing else seems to be wrong… Besides his stupidity…" I answered once again.

Cloud smirked. "'Hot?'" He asked smartly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Not like that you idiot." I replied with anger. This guy is going on my 'people to punch later' list.

I finished up with wrapping the bandages and I stood up next to my brother.

"Hey, I'm the one doing all of the work here, why don't you try to think of a name?" Cloud asked.

I muttered some words under my breath.

"What was that?" Cloud asked as he inched closer to me.

"…Hope…" I whispered.

"'Hope' what?" Cloud asked.

"His name. We should name him Hope…" I answered.

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"It's better than 'Cloud Junior.'" I replied.

"…"

"…"

"This is true…" Cloud agreed.

"I can't believe that we're on the same page." I said in shock.

"Me neither…" Cloud agreed.

"Stop it…"

"I will…"

"Stop doing what I tell you to do."

"No. I'm going to do what you tell me to do."

"…Oh you're good…"

"That I am!"

"Stop!"

"Okay!"

"Good!"

"Why are we yelling?" Cloud yelled.

I sighed. "If I survive this millennia, it will be a miracle…" I muttered. I turned to Hope. "You better get going, Hope. If mother or father see you up here than we are all going to be dead meat." I explained.

Hope lowered his head as he trotted over to the window.

"Wait! You're going out the window?" I asked the white wolf.

"What else did you want him to do?" My brother asked. "Go out the door and say goodbye to the rest of the family?" Cloud asked now with sarcasm in his voice.

I turned to him. "Since when did you start using your brain?" I asked.

"Very funny…" Cloud said sarcastically.

"Remember to visit, okay, Hope?" I reminded the wolf who replied with a small bark and leaped out of the window. I ran over to the window and saw my new friend race back off to the woods.

I sighed sadly.

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" We hear our mother call out to us.

"Coming!" The two of us called back at her.

~Howling at the Moon~

All of us ate at the dinner table in silence. And by all of us, I mean my mother, father, brother and of course, myself.

"So, does anyone have anything to say…?" Mother asked as she tried to make everything less awkward.

"Well, I can tell you about the mission that Cloud and I went on…" Father suggested. He then began to blab on about every single detail and occasionally, Cloud would interrupt to add some other stuff.

I sighed. Why couldn't I eat one meal in peace?

Suddenly a loud bang interrupted father's talking.

"What was that?" I shrieked.

"It came from outside!" Father announced. We all stood up from the table and raced over to door and swung it open.

"Everyone, stay inside!" Father ordered.

"But-" I tried to protest.

"Do what I say!" Father interrupted. I gave up and the rest of us walked back inside and into the kitchen.

"What do you think is happening?" Cloud asked nobody in particular.

"I'm sure that it is nothing that your father can't handle…" Mother answered, though her voice was shaky.

I stared out the window. Hope didn't leave that long ago… What if he was hurt? I just can't stand around and do nothing! But father and mother wouldn't like me to go outside. I sighed. I guess I'm going to have to check it all out tomorrow…

~Howling at the Moon~

I walked along the footpath. The sun rays were shining brightly in my sad eyes. I was heading over to Kiba's, but I was distracted by the red liquid in front of me.

Was this caused by the noise last night?

Father did come back home last night. He wasn't injured but he wouldn't tell us what happened. In fact, I don't even think that he knows… I frowned at the blood and felt sick to my stomach. I can't deal with this now… I wouldn't be able to figure it out anyway… I walked around the blood and continued to walk over to Kiba's.

As I walked along, I heard whispers around the village.

"Did you hear the shooting last night?"

"Yeah. I heard that one man has been around shooting people and animals."

"Someone was hurt last night."

"Who?"

"Don't know… All I know is that it was a male and was shot in the leg."

My eyes widened. I tried to ignore the conversation, but it turned out that I was now eavesdropping.

"Did he go to hospital?"

"No. I heard that he refused to go."

"What a stupid kid… He should've gone."

"Indeed."

The ladies conversation ended there and I continued walking. Someone actually refused to get his leg checked out? He would rather deal with the pain than to go to hospital? I shook my head. What a dumb kid…

I made it to the Inuzuka compound and knocked on the door. I heard a distant 'I'm coming!' and by the sounds of it, it was Kiba.

The door opened revealing the brunette. His eyes half open, and he had a crutch under his arm. My eyes widened.

"A-Are- Did you-?" I was at a loss for words. Kiba was the one who was shot in the leg? Well, things are starting to add up now.

He looked down at his leg.

"Yeah. I got shot. .." Kiba answered with a sigh.

"What were you even doing outside?" I yelled.

"What I do is none of your business." Kiba answered as he narrowed his eyebrows.

"Does anyone else know about this?" I asked.

"Only Akamaru. My mother is still out on a mission and Hana had to leave early last night 'cause of some emergency." Kiba answered.

I shook my head at him and walked inside. Kiba closed the door and followed me to the lounge. We both sat down even though Kiba struggled a little and he placed his crutch beside him. We sat in silence besides the ticking of the clock of course.

"So…" Kiba started off.

"So…?" I repeated as a question.

"What's new with you?" Kiba asked.

"Why would you want to know?" I asked curiously.

"Well, if you're going to be staying here for a while I don't want to be bored out of my mind." Kiba answered with a grin.

I glared at him.

"Well, now that you mention it, I did see something amazing last night."

"Fire away."

"I saw a wolf – a real one. It was a beautiful one too. White fur, golden eyes, not to mention a great patient – unlike you. He was hurt, so I took care of him. He was just a delight to have."

Kiba stared at me with his eyes widened. That soon vanished though as he was in a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked the stupid ninja.

"A-A wolf? I-In Konoha? Ha!" Kiba said as he finally caught his breath. "If you're going to make up a lie, at least make up one that is going to be believable."

"Well, you better believe it because it's true." I snapped.

"Hey, we already have too many Naruto's around; we don't need the female version." Kiba joked.

"By the way, how does losing to a fart feel?"

"I don't know. How does being a bratty witch feel?"

"At least I can shower without smelling like wet dog afterwards."

"How would you know what I smell like after I took a shower? Something tells me that you're not telling me something…"

"Shut up!"

"Nah! I would feel a lot better if I kept annoying you."

I narrowed my eyes at the dog-owner. I was about to reply when we heard a knock on the door. Kiba groaned, knowing that he would have to get up and walk again. I sighed.

"I'll get it…" I said.

Kiba's eyes widened.

"Thanks…" Kiba muttered.

"I don't want your 'thanks.'" I replied as I walked over to the door and opened it. It was Hinata and Shino. Hinata held a bouquet of flowers in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Aren't we allowed to see our own teammate?" Shino asked. If there was one thing I found creepy, it was Shino.

"Well excuse me if I don't find your presence exhilarating…" I replied.

"Just let them in, Hikari!" I heard Kiba yell out to me. I groaned and allowed the two to pass by me.

I followed Hinata and Shino over to the lounge where Kiba was sitting. He grinned.

"K-Kiba…" Hinata stuttered. "A-Are you okay? We heard about w-what happened to last night…" Hinata held out the large bouquet of flowers in front of Kiba. He slowly reached out for them with his good hand and grabbed them.

"So, the word is starting to get out, huh?" Kiba asked as he stared down at the flowers. "You didn't have to do this you know?"

"I-It was no trouble K-Kiba… You're our comrade after all…" Hinata replied.

"How did you manage to get yourself hurt in the first place, Kiba?" Shino asked.

"I was out on a walk." Kiba answered.

"So you answer them. Why couldn't you have said that in the first place?" I asked the brunette.

"It's different…" Kiba replied.

"How so?" I asked.

"I actually like these two." Kiba answered. I glared at him.

"Whatever." I said as I looked away from him.

Just then, Akamaru walked in the room and stared up at us. Kiba smiled brightly.

"Hey, boy!" He greeted as Akamaru jumped onto the lounge and he let out a small bark.

"Sorry, I can't train with you today… My leg's just not up for it." Kiba frowned as Akamaru whimpered. Kiba looked up at his teammates. "I guess that means that I won't be able to go with you guys on missions either, huh?"

"I-It's fine Kiba… Besides, y-your arm still has to heal, r-right?" Hinata asked.

"Right… My arm. That's pretty much ruined too. But… I'm getting used to it." Kiba replied proudly.

"Really?" I asked. I walked over and gave him a light punch to his bandaged arm. Kiba winced in pain.

"What was that for?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. If I could describe Kiba, I would say that he was the most hot-tempered guy in the village…

"You were the one who said 'I'm getting used to it.' You need to choose your words better." I answered.

"Can't one of you guys stay here instead?" Kiba pleaded to his teammates. I was repeating to myself the word 'please' until Shino gave Kiba his answer.

"No." He told the brunette.

"What?" Kiba yelled.

What?! This is an outrage!

"Why not?" Kiba and I asked in unison.

"Hinata and I both have missions that we need to complete for the rest of the week… In fact, this is going to be the only free moment we've got…" Shino answered.

Kiba muttered something under his breath. Something about 'stupid missions' and 'bug nerd.'

Kiba sighed.

"Well, this is just great…" Kiba said sarcastically. "You're going to visit once you come back, right?" Kiba asked. Hinata nodded.

"O-Of course." She answered.

"Well, if you guys can't stay here, can you at least look for someone that isn't Naruto to come here? I don't want to be stuck in the same room with this brat without having someone else to keep me company." Kiba asked.

"Fine…" Shino answered.

"W-Well, K-Kiba, we have to go to our next mission n-now. W-We'll see you s-soon, okay?" Hinata said.

Kiba sighed. "Alright, see you later…" Kiba said with disappointment.

Shino lifted his glasses with a finger and the two made their way to the door. Once I knew that the two were gone, I sat down on the lounge, but it was a safe distance away from Kiba.

"Why didn't you want Naruto to keep you company?" I asked curiously.

"I don't want to take any chances…" Kiba replied. "For some reason, I'm his main target whenever he does the 'thing' and it's always done while I'm standing really close to him. Also, I don't think that I would want to eat ramen every day…"

"Well you seem okay with beef jerky…" I replied.

"Because beef jerky always tastes better and better each time you take a bite out of it." Kiba explained. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure it does…" I said sarcastically.

"Hey! Never speak like that about beef jerky! It is heaven!" Kiba yelled at me.

"Whatever you say dog breath…" I replied.

"What happened to you calling me 'Kiba'?" Kiba asked.

"You better be grateful that I bother to remember your name…" I replied.

"Was that an insult?"

"Hey, you're Sherlock, you figure it out…"

A moment passed in silence. Kiba obviously wasn't able to reply to it. I win!

Kiba let out a random scream for five whole seconds. I raised an eyebrow.

"What was that for? Are you bleeding or whatever?" I asked without much concern.

"No. It just feels good to scream. It's a bit annoying to know that I have to rest up and not being able to move about. It's pretty boring… I can't **stand** sitting still…" Kiba growled.

That's exactly what he said when we were kids.

"_To be honest, I can't stand sitting still…"_

Those were the days when Kiba was actually likeable…

Akamaru stood up. He made some strange noises. Kiba and I stared at the white fluff-ball.

"What's he doing?" I asked the brunette.

"I think he's finally ready to talk!" Kiba smiled. "You can do it Akamaru! We'll prove that idiot wrong!

"Naruto?" I asked.

"Naruto." Kiba answered.

"Do you think that he's actually going to do it?" I asked.

"Akamaru can do anything. I think that he is going to do it." Kiba answered as Akamaru kept on trying to talk. At one point he even meow'd. It was really awkward… Whatever training Kiba is doing with him isn't really working well.

At that moment the door swung open and the blonde idiot came through.

"I heard cat and I rushed over to see if any of the dogs here were involved." Naruto explained. Kiba face-palmed.

"Why…" He muttered. He then glared at Naruto. "Naruto, there's this new invention that this genius created – it's called a doorbell!"

"I just thought that a cat was being ripped to pieces." Naruto explained.

"I thought that you hated cats!" Kiba yelled.

"And I thought that you were a little smart, but I guess that we were both wrong!" Naruto replied. I snickered. Kiba is getting owned all over the place today…

Kiba looked down at Akamaru.

"Sic 'em!" Kiba told the puppy. Akamaru barked and pounced at Naruto, knocking him onto his back and doing other violent things to him.

Kiba laughed at the scene. "Now _this_ is entertainment! Thanks for coming Naruto!" Kiba said cheerfully. I stared wide-eyed. I didn't know that Akamaru was this strong… Either that or Naruto is incredibly weak…

"Are you going to apologize to Akamaru?" Kiba asked with the grin glued on his face.

"For what?" Naruto screamed.

"Akamaru was trying to talk until you came here." Kiba answered.

"Oh! So Akamaru was trying to talk like a cat…" Naruto said to himself.

Kiba sighed. "No Naruto… No he wasn't…" Kiba said as he shook his head. "Well, I guess you're not going to learn anytime soon… I'm satisfied…" Akamaru stopped his attack on Naruto and jumped back onto the lounge. Kiba patted his head. "Good boy…!" He said in a puppy voice. I rolled my eyes.

Naruto stood up and his eyes widened. "Question." He said. "How are you two sitting on the same lounge and not trying to kill each other?" He asked.

"Well, if she does, then Lady Tsunade will punish her…" Kiba replied with a smirk.

"And why is she here anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I have to take care of him." I pouted.

"Oh. I thought that you two were going to be… Weird…" Naruto said.

"Weird as in how?" Kiba asked.

"You know… 'That'." Naruto answered.

"What is 'that'?" I asked.

"You know… The thing…" Naruto replied.

"And the thing is…?" Kiba asked.

"Ithoughtthatyoutwoweregoingtomakeout." Naruto said quickly.

Kiba and I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" We asked.

Naruto looked down at his wrist. "Oh! Is _that_ the time already? I have to go! See you!" Naruto said as he rushed out of the door, closing it behind him.

Kiba chuckled. And that chuckling turned into hysterical laughter and for some reason I joined in. Akamaru looked at us like we were being weirdoes. Kiba was, but I was perfectly normal.

The laughter died down from the two of us.

"It feels so-" I began.

"-Good to laugh." Kiba finished.

"Why were we laughing?" I asked.

"I don't know." Kiba answered.

"Then why'd you start?" I asked.

"Why'd you join in?" Kiba asked.

I shrugged. "It was awkward. I had to do something…"

"You mean 'you had to do something with me?'" Kiba corrected.

"Yeah – I mean – No!" I stammered.

Kiba chuckled. "Well, when you see Naruto, punch him for me, will you?" He asked.

"Why?" I asked.

Kiba laughed uncontrollably. "'Cause he thought that we were going to-" Kiba snickered and laughed again. "Sorry… I-I can't say this with a straight face."

"Wait… You mean he thought-"

"Yep."

"And you were-"

"Uh-huh."

"And that's why you-"

"Maybe."

"Fine, I'll punch him." I said.

"Want to get lunch?" Kiba asked.

"Huh?" I asked making sure that I heard him right.

"Let's go somewhere nice for lunch. I'll see if anyone else is able to come and we'll go to a nice restaurant." Kiba answered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Only if you treat." I replied.

"Fine." Kiba replied with a smirk. I stood up. Kiba tried to, but forgot his crutch and fell forward into my arms.

We stared at each other for a while. We were so shocked that we were too paralyzed to move. Finally I spoke up.

"You know, the point of having that thing is to actually use it." I said.

"Well excuse me for not being used to having a crutch." Kiba replied with a pout.

"I was actually talking about your head, but that works too." I corrected him. Kiba frowned but ignored me. He reached out for his crutch and put it under his arm.

"Let me take those." I said as I took the flowers that Hinata gave him out of his hands. I found a vase near the window and gently placed the flowers in it.

"I can't believe that you're being nice…" Kiba said in shock. "…Willingly." He added.

I chuckled. "Like you're one to talk…"

"Hey…" Kiba frowned.

"So who do you think should come?" I asked.

"Well, my team's out…" Kiba said with disappointment. "Kakashi's team, Asuma's team, Gai's team and… Whatever team you're in." Kiba answered.

"You don't even know what team I'm in…" I said as I shook my head. "Shame… That's what you be feeling right now Kiba."

"Well, I haven't really been introduced to your team, have I?" Kiba answered. I glared at him. "Shame Hikari… Shame…"

"Stop it!" I yelled.

"Fine. Ruin my fun… Jerk." Kiba pouted.

"Wait… So is it all of Team Seven?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah… So?" Kiba asked.

"Nothing…" I said innocently.

Kiba's eyes widened. "No… Way…" Kiba began as his smirk grew. "You have a-"

"Don't say it!" I warned him…

Kiba sighed. "Fine…"

A few seconds passed and nothing was said.

"-Crush on Sasuke!" Kiba said quickly.

"Stop talking!" I screamed.

Kiba poked out his tongue. "Just a heads up, when my leg heals, I'm going to run around the village screaming, 'the hard to get Hikari has a crush on Sasuke'!" Kiba said a little too loud. I blushed.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Please don't tell anyone…" I begged.

"I won't have to. You just made yourself obvious." Kiba shrugged. I stared at him. He sighed. "I won't tell…"

"Thanks." I sighed.

"I don't want your 'thanks.'" Kiba mimicked. I shook my head.

"Not cool, Kiba… Not cool…"

Kiba shrugged. "Your words, not mine."

"I don't like you…" I said like some sort of evil guy.

"I know!" Kiba said. "Come on Akamaru!" Akamaru barked and jumped off the lounge to follow us.

_**A/N/ Another chapter! Whoo! Well the next chapter will involve more characters and Hikari's team. They are all going to eat out together. Hikari's feelings also start to show and you'll have to see what Kiba does about the situation… So much drama! I have planned everything out and I have already started to type it up! Until next time. REVIEW!**_

_**To be continued…**_


	3. Becoming Clear

_**DISCLAIMER:**_

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. NARUTO AND ALL RELATED PRODUCTS BELONG TO THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT, AND MY OWN CHARACTERS. PLEASE SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL RELEASE.**_

Howling at the moon, chapter three: Becoming clear.

_**Hikari's POV:**_

Kiba, Akamaru and I waited outside one of the best restaurants in the whole village. It was taking a while for everyone to get here. But, I really don't want my team to get here. And as if on cue, Kiba decides to talk about them.

"So what's your team like?" He asked curiously.

"Well-" I began but was interrupted.

"Duuuddee!" I smacked a hand against my head.

"Oh Kami, not this guy…" I muttered.

Kiba raised an eyebrow as my two teammates walked over to us.

"Dudes, what's up?" My partner Nami greeted us.

"Nami, stop acting like an idiot every time we see someone. I'm embarrassed to be in the same country as you." My other partner Hoshi said.

Kiba looked at me with his eyes widened. He mouthed 'are you serious?' and I shrugged.

"Sorry about him." Hoshi apologized with a smile. "I'm Hoshi and this guy is Nami. He's a bit of a handful. Who are you?"

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru." Kiba replied. Akamaru barked a hello.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your leg…" Hoshi said sympathetically.

"Nah! You shouldn't worry about it. I'll get used to it." Kiba replied.

"Well, it's just that… A bullet to the leg… You're not in pain, are you?" Hoshi asked.

"Only if I put too much pressure on it." Kiba answered. "It's nothing that can't be fixed."

"That's awesome bro!" Nami said as loudly as he possibly could.

"Sure… Why not?" Kiba said nervously.

"Damn it Nami… No one wants to hear your loud voice…" I hissed.

Nami folded his arms.

"Most heinous Hikari…" Nami pouted.

"Call it what you like, Nami." I said as I shook my head.

Just then, Team Guy walked over to us.

"Hey guys!" Tenten called out to us.

"Hey!" We all called out to her and the rest of Team Guy.

Lee was also on crutches, so I guess that he and Kiba will be able to relate in a way. Just as long as he doesn't go on about 'the spirit of youth!'

"It is nice to see you all again." Lee greeted.

"Didn't I see you like four days ago, Lee?" I asked.

"Yes you did. But it is still nice to see all of you." Lee replied.

I rolled my eyes. I looked over at Neji who had been pretty quiet. He had his Byakugan activated. He focused in on Kiba's leg. His eyes widened and he then deactivated the Byakugan.

"Kiba…" Neji began, but was interrupted by Naruto's loud voice. Team Seven were making their way over to us.

"Hey guys!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"One word, Naruto." Kiba said to the blonde.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

Kiba shook his head.

I snuck a look at Sasuke. Come to think of it… He didn't get out of the hospital that long ago either. Why is it that people are getting seriously hurt lately?

"Sasuke!" I heard Ino's voice as I clenched my fists tightly. Ino wrapped both of her arms around one of Sasuke's arms. He gave her an annoyed glare.

"What do you think you're doing Ino-Pig?" Sakura screamed.

"Don't be so greedy Billboard-Brow!" Ino yelled back.

"Dude's you got to loosen up! We'll catch some waves and stuff!" Nami announced. We all stared at him with our eyebrows raised.

"This is going to be such a drag…" Shikamaru said to himself.

"Well, if we're all here let's eat!" Choji said. We all nodded and walked in the restaurant.

We all sat down at our table. There were a fair few people here too. Kiba looked around. People were giving him weird looks. He was looking a little uncomfortable.

"What do you think he is doing out here?"

"It's still in there, you know."

"It was never taken out?"

"Apparently, he hates hospitals."

"He's one of the most stubborn people in the village."

"That boy has too much pride. It's going to kill him one of these days."

Kiba let out a soft sigh and stared down at the table.

"Kiba…" Neji began. Kiba looked up at him.

"What?" Kiba asked.

"You should have taken it out…" Neji advised. I looked over at the Hyuga. "The bullet. Usually it would be wise to take it out of your leg. It will never heal properly if you leave things as they are." Neji explained.

"I know, I know Neji." Kiba said as he raked a hand through his brown hair.

"Then why didn't you-?" Neji said, not being able to finish his sentence.

"It's none of your business, Neji. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a big fan of yours. Ever since the Chunin Exams, I haven't been able to look at you and not think about what you did." Kiba replied.

"This has nothing to do with what happened at the exams." Neji replied with his calm voice. "I'm just concerned is all."

"Maybe I don't want you to be concerned about me. The only reason you're here is because I invited Lee and Tenten. As far as I know, they don't try to seriously hurt their own family…" Kiba growled.

Neji was trying not to cause a scene, but Kiba was a bit too fired up at this moment.

"Nami…" I whispered.

"Hm?"

"Do you think that you can calm Kiba down?" I asked. Nami nodded with a grin.

"Dude-!" Nami began but was interrupted.

"Not right now, Nami, we're in the middle of something…" Kiba hissed. Nami frowned and backed off. Hoshi leaned over to me.

"So is Kiba always like this?" She asked.

"Well, I think it's just towards Neji. Kiba mustn't have liked that Neji was being so hard on Hinata during the Chunin Exams…" I answered.

"Well, he sounds like a sweet guy…" Hoshi said randomly.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"Nothing. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to order for everybody. What does Kiba like?" Hoshi asked.

"Beef… Jerky…" I answered.

"Got it." Hoshi said as she stood up.

"Wait! Don't you want to know what the other guys want?" I asked.

Hoshi shrugged as she walked away.

"I'll just wing it!" She called out.

I raised an eyebrow.

"All I'm suggesting is for you to check it out. Being in a hospital won't kill you Kiba." Neji said to the raging Inuzuka sitting right in front of him.

"I don't want your suggestions! Being around you makes me sick!" Kiba snapped.

"Kiba, it is alright. Neji is just giving his opinion." Lee told the brunette.

Kiba looked over at Lee.

"We came here for lunch. We don't need to argue." I added.

Kiba stood up with his crutch and walked away from the table.

"Where are you going, Kiba?" Sakura asked.

"Not far." Kiba answered. Oh! He means the bathroom… Well, as long as he calms down, I'm good with it.

_**Kiba's POV:**_

I stormed into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I slammed my good hand against the bench, making a dent. I didn't care.

"Out of all of the…" I trailed off. I couldn't stop staring at my reflection. My eyes… They were… Gold…? "What the hell…?" I whispered. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was actually… Frightened of my reflection?

I shook my head wildly and stared back into the mirror. My eyes – my golden eyes widened. Am I hallucinating?

"It must be the loss of blood…" I said shakily. In fact, my whole body was shaking with fear. I gulped. Just that second, I got a splitting headache.

"Argh…!" I clenched my pounding head and my vision was blurring. The only things that stood out were my eyes. "Calm down…!" I told myself. "It's not real…! You're imagining things." Saying this only made my head hurt more. I fell on my knees, including the one that was shot. I bit my lip. I can't scream…! It will only cause attention.

"_You should have taken it out…" _Neji's words reminded me.

_What do you know, Neji? _I felt like screaming. You're not that great!

The throbbing pain in my head slowly faded away and I panted heavily. My hand flopped off my head.

I stood up shakily and grabbed my crutch. I stared at it. I hate this thing… Whoever invented bullets is going to get creamed. I stared back in the mirror. I sighed in relief.

"Normal…" I said with a small smile across my face. I walked out of the bathroom and sighed again. I walked towards the table where I was sitting with my friends – and Neji – but I tripped over something. Before I fell face-first on the floor, a pair of arms caught my waist.

I blinked. _What?_ I looked up to see the face of the person who caught me. My eyes met a pair of big brown eyes. My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it… It was Hoshi? She looked down at me with eyes full of worry.

"Are you okay, Kiba?" She asked me with concern.

I stared at her with a million thoughts racing through my mind. She blinked, causing me to snap back to reality.

"Yeah… Thanks." I smiled. She smiled back.

"That's good…" She said as she helped me stand back up properly.

I flushed red with embarrassment. I can't believe that I tripped over nothing. I deserve to be squashed by the ground.

"Sorry about that…" I said with my voice filled with embarrassment.

"It's no trouble, Kiba. After all, you can't help it if your leg is injured. It takes time to get used to." Hoshi replied.

I frowned. "I don't think I'm going to get used to it anytime soon…" Hoshi stared at me in confusion.

"Come on, you seem like a guy that can handle anything. You should be able to handle this leg with no problem."

I chuckled. "Are you sure you're talking to the right guy?"

Hoshi nodded. "Of course! Who else would I be talking to?" I raised an eyebrow. I can think of a few… "We better get going. We'll eat with the others. And remember, if you need anyone to talk to about anything, I'm here to listen. I'm not the kind of person to judge others." She said with a smile.

"Uh… Thanks." I replied. This is getting awkward.

Okay, a recap of Hikari's team.

Hikari is a brat who just loves to violently attack me while I'm injured. Nami is… Weird, loud, annoying… Shall I go on? Over all, the only one who I can really count on is Hoshi… She seems nice enough.

Hoshi and I took our seats. Hikari looked over at me.

"Have you finally got all of 'it' out of your system yet?" She asked me.

"Yeah…" I replied not paying much attention to her.

Those golden eyes of mine flashed before me. My eyes widened. Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"What? Don't give me that look Dog Breath." Hikari said to me.

"… I didn't… Give you a look…" I said slowly.

"Sure you didn't…" She replied just as slowly.

"Um…" I whispered. "Didn't you say that 'wolf' you met had golden eyes?" I asked curiously.

"I thought you didn't believe me…" Hikari said as she folded her arms.

I sighed, looking away from her. "I'm just wondering is all…"

"So, Sasuke…" Hikari began. It's just fantastic to see that almost all of the girls here have a crush on pretty boy… I'm not sure if Hoshi likes him or not, but she doesn't seem that interested in him… "I saw that Chidori during the Chunin Exams, I have wanted to say that it is a pretty amazing Jutsu. Your performance was flawless."

"Hn." Sasuke 'replied.' I rolled my eyes.

"I have a new Jutsu too!" Naruto interrupted. "It's much more powerful than that 'Chidori' thing! You see, it's called the-"

"Don't want to know, Naruto." Hikari interrupted.

I raised an eyebrow. Typical… If someone else wants to tell this brat something that doesn't have the name 'Sasuke' then she will brush it off like it is insignificant…

Personally, I'm interested in hearing about Naruto's new Jutsu… It will give me a chance to prepare myself. Though it is pretty bad… I mean, I thought that I had caught up with Naruto. But it seems like I was wrong. And these damn injuries are getting in the way…

I can't even remember most of the stuff that has been happening… I mean, I can't remember much about what happened last night… It's all sort of fuzzy…

I suddenly felt another sharp pain in my head. I didn't want to alert the others about it, so I just tried to ignore it… That is… Until I heard some voices in my head…

"_What are you doing around here, buddy?"_ A familiar voice said softly "_I never knew that wolves came around to Konoha…" _I heard a whimper. _"What is it?" _

Wait… That voice…?

"_Shh…"_ The same person told me. _"It's okay…"_

Isn't that Hikari's voice?

"…Hope…" Hikari whispered.

What?

"_His name. We should name him Hope_…" Hikari clarified.

What is she talking about? Is it… Me…?

I finally saw Hikari looking down at me. _"Remember to visit, okay, Hope?" _ She asked me.

After that, I didn't hear anything else and the vision was gone. I sighed softly so then no one would hear me. Akamaru jumped onto my lap and barked at me.

'_What's wrong, Kiba?'_

I blinked. I shook my head.

'_Don't lie to me, Kiba. I know when you're worried about something…'_

"I'm not, Akamaru…" I replied to the white dog softly so then no one would hear.

'_Kiba…'_

I sighed. "I'll tell you later, okay boy?" I replied softly.

'_Sure!'_

I lifted my nose in the air. Something smells good… A smile appeared on my face. Well, at least one good thing is going to come out of this.

I turned to Hikari who was going on about something and narrowed my eyes. Maybe I could get some information out of her…

I looked down at the table in deep thought. So… How did this happen? Who did this? More importantly… Where is my beef jerky?

As if on cue, the waiter gave me my plate of beef jerky. I smiled as I picked up my fork. I looked around at the others, who had strange looks on their faces as they looked down at their plates of food, even Choji! I raised an eyebrow. What's their problem?

Every now and again during the time that we ate, I shot a glare up at Neji. Hinata might've forgiven him… But I am keeping an eye on that guy… If he tries anything funny, once I'm done with him, Hell would seem like a Summer's paradise.

-Line break-

Once I finished, I sighed and placed Akamaru on top of my head and stood up.

"Where are you going, Kiba?" Hoshi asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Home." I stated plainly.

"Sit down Kiba." Hikari said. "You can't walk around the village by yourself, because if the Hokage finds out, this whole village will turn upside down…"

"You're not the boss of me." I said, shooting a glare at her.

"Do you know the damage that can be done by Tsunade, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"_You_ are not one to talk Shikamaru." I sneered.

"You need someone with you!"Hikari said, raising her voice.

"Stop treating me like a little kid!" I shouted at her.

"Why shouldn't I?" Hikari yelled as she stood up and slammed her hand against the table. "You act like one!"

"What makes you think that you know anything about me?" I yelled.

"Hikari, maybe you should let Kiba go back…" Hoshi said. "I mean, if he wants to, he has a right to."

"Are you asking for punishment? Because Tsunade will be giving it to you when she realizes that you were one of the causes!"

"I'm just stating my opinions is all." Hoshi replied. I turned around and began to walk away.

"You know what; I don't care about that anymore. I've had enough with this crap!"

And I've had enough with your attitude, princess, but nothing ever changes!

-Line break-

I slammed the door as I entered the Inuzuka household. I walked up to my room and sighed as I sat down on my bed. Akamaru jumped off my head and looked at me sadly.

'_What happened back there, Kiba? Why did you get so mad?'_ He barked.

I sighed. "I don't know…" I admitted. "I guess that I just need some time to think."

Akamaru cocked his head to the side. _'About what?' _He asked.

"A lot of things, Akamaru." I replied. "I don't know what to believe anymore…"

'_Kiba, you know that you can talk to me about it.'_

I took in a deep breath. "Well, strange things have been happening ever since the Mist ninja attacked us during that mission. I haven't been feeling like myself." I stared at Akamaru, who felt like he needed to let something off of his chest.

"What is it Akamaru?" I asked. "What's wrong? Do you know something?"

'_I promised not to tell…'_

"Akamaru, tell me…"

'_Well…'_

_**Hikari's POV:**_

I walked back with Hoshi to my place. Nami ran off somewhere else so he didn't come with us. But, there was an awkward silence between us. I hate those things!

"Hoshi," I began a conversation. "What was that back there? Why were you so interested in Kiba?" I asked.

Hoshi looked up at the sky. "Well I guess… You could say… Kiba has ripped my heart out of my chest – forever stolen!"

I burst into laughter until I realized the glare that she was sending me. "Oh wait, you're serious…"

"Kiba is just the perfect guy for me… Unlike the last guy I dated…" Hoshi replied.

"Considering the fact that you were crazy enough to go out with Nami, by comparison, I'm not surprised that you said that…" I informed her.

"No, not by comparison… But Kiba has a good vibe." Hoshi corrected me.

I rolled my eyes. "That's what you said about Nami before you two started dating…"

"This time I'm sure that I have found the perfect guy for me."

"That's what you said for the last twenty-seven boyfriends…"

"Well, you know what they say; twenty-eighth time's the charm."

"No. No one that I have ever met has ever said that…"

"Well, I just did. Kiba Inuzuka is my true love!"

Do you want to put that on a bill-board instead of shouting it out as loud as you can? But… What's this pain in my chest? Must be nothing…

"Can we get off the subject of Kiba? His name itself is a pain…"

"Don't act like you're not jealous of his smile…"

I raised an eyebrow. "His smile…? Hoshi, listen to me… I have been more jealous of a brick wall… There is no way in this world that I am jealous of… HIM!"

"Look, I know that you hate Kiba, but you don't have to curse his name."

"No… We're not talking about my hatred of Kiba anymore." I replied. "Look over there. Do you see that suspicious guy?"

Hoshi took a long and hard look. "Yeah. It's a wonder that the shop owners haven't figured out about that guy stealing stuff out of the trashcans…"

"No, you idiot!" I yelled. "Your left!"

"Oh. I knew that. Yeah I see the guy."

"Do you know who that is…?"

"No, but I bet you that you're going to tell me."

"It's the guy who we ran into on our mission!"

"And…?"

"He tried to steal the scroll…"

"So…?"

"He hurt Kiba…"

"That jerk!"

"Follow me…" I whispered. Hoshi nodded and we ran into an alleyway to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"So… You were the one who tried to foil our plans…? It's been a while since I've seen you." The Mist ninja asked an older looking man.

"That boy needs to be taken down." The older man replied.

"Sorry. I need him for my plan."

"That boy would rather die than help you!"

"What the hell is going on?" Hoshi whispered to me. I shrugged. I wish I knew.

The Mist ninja laughed. "You see, he won't have a choice in the matter. I have the power to do whatever I want with him. It's only a matter of time…"

"So just because you don't have the guts, you think that you can control an innocent boy?" The old man huffed. "Amateurs…!"

"Well, I was going to let you live but… You just earned yourself a one-way ticket to hell!" The mist ninja finished as he grabbed a kunai knife. My eyes widened.

"Come on Hoshi!" I whispered. Hoshi nodded and we both grabbed our own kunai knives out of our ninja tools' pockets.

We both quickly ran towards the two men. Hoshi quickly blocked the kunai attack while I held my own kunai at the mist ninja's neck.

"Don't even try to make a move you snake!" I hissed.

He chuckled. "I see it's you… And you have brought a cute girl with you…"

"Don't try flattery, pal!" Hoshi yelled angrily. Wow… She is really mad… "What do you want with Kiba!" I rolled my eyes. Of course…

"What…? The boy?"

"Nah… The girl next door…" I said sarcastically. "Tell us what is going on!"

"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it? And that just wouldn't be fun…"

"Who are you?" Hoshi asked with a scowl.

"I am but a servant. A simple pawn. It wouldn't matter if you killed me now. I have already served my usefulness."

"I'll ask you again…" Hoshi replied. "What do you want with Kiba?"

The Mist Ninja shrugged. "If you know, it wouldn't help you. But, I guess because of that, I may as well tell you one thing. He is a beast. People take his Inuzuka blood for granted, but our organization knows better than that. We have found a way to unleash his full power and take down the Leaf."

My eyes narrowed. "And what would that be?" I asked.

He chuckled. "You'll see. Just look out for your worst nightmare. Then you'll know…"

I have had enough of this! I tried to slice his neck, but his entire body vaporized into mist and disappeared off into the sky.

Hoshi sighed and punched her fist into the ground. "What do you think he means by that?" She asked with tears forming in her eyes. "What is he going to do with Kiba?"

"I don't know. He talks about Kiba like he's some sort of animal…" I turned to face the man before us. "And who are you?"

"My name is Kodai. I presume you are friends with that Inuzuka child?" He asked.

I folded my arms. "No."

"Yes." Hoshi replied. "And I presume you're the one who shot him."

Kodai sighed. "I know that you heard most of our conversation. Like I said, he would rather die than to destroy his own home. And to live with a burden like that on his shoulders wouldn't make him feel good about living…"

"You seem to know a lot about this situation." Hoshi said with narrowed eyebrows. "How is that possible?"

Kodai looked down at the ground. "Well… I was one of their victims at one stage."

"But, aren't you a bit…?" I began. He caught onto what I was saying.

Kodai chuckled. "Sorry…" He apologized. I raised an eyebrow as Kodai made a hand sign. A cloud of smoke surrounded him and once it disappeared, my eyes widened. He's really, kind of young! At least in his late twenties.

"Is this better?" He asked.

"Why did you use the Transformation Jutsu?" I asked him, confused.

"For a secret in identity, of course." Kodai replied.

"So what did you mean by when you said that you were a victim?" Hoshi asked.

Kodai looked down. "They are doing the same thing to this friend of yours to what they did to me a few years ago."

"They did?" I asked. Kodai nodded.

"Yes."

"What's this terrifying beast anyway?" Hoshi asked. I nodded in agreement. I am pretty curious too, I have to admit. I mean, the village is at stake here!

"Well, it's more of a half beast. The victim will look just as he normally would with very few changes. The difference is that the victim will have no will over his own body. His mind will be blocked and he will be out of control – destroying everything in its path."

"Then, how come you're not this 'half beast'?" I asked.

"It lasts for one night. On the night of the eclipse. No one will be safe." Kodai replied.

"Isn't there a way that we can stop this?" Hoshi asked with concern in her voice.

"Well," Kodai began. "I have been working on an antidote, but it was broken by that Mist Ninja."

"Is there a way to get any work on that antidote back?" I asked.

"There are some secret herbs… And of course some other things…" Kodai replied.

I smiled. "Well, why don't we go look for the herbs for you while you get everything else that you need?" I suggested.

"Would you do that?" Kodai asked.

"Of course. Why wouldn't we do everything we can to save the village and people we all grew up with?" I asked. Even the ones that we hate so much that we could strangle them to death…

"We'll need to tell the Hokage though." Hoshi reminded me.

I nodded. "Yeah, but she'll understand. After all, she does want the best for the village."

"You're right." Hoshi replied with a small smile.

"I'm glad that you two are willing to do whatever you can for the village." Kodai said to us and reached into his pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper and handed them to me. "Here are the locations of the herbs that you need. I just wish that I could've been this prepared when I hurt my village…"

"Don't worry. Think of this as a mission for both of our villages." I suggested.

Kodai nodded. "Thank you. If you need me, I will meet you here."

"Got it. Thanks, Kodai." I replied.

"Yay! Now Kiba will be okay!" Hoshi cheered. I sent her a harsh stare and placed my hands on my hips. "A-And the village… That too." She added. I rolled my eyes. She has only just met Kiba and already she has fallen head-over-heels for him. But Sasuke is an exception. It's a wonder why she doesn't like him…

"Let's go…!" I said and grabbed her arm tightly.

"Not so hard!" Hoshi complained as I dragged her out of the alley.

I turned around to face Kodai. "Thanks again Kodai – Where did he go?" I asked as I stared back at the empty alley. I shrugged. I shouldn't be surprised. So I continued dragging Hoshi around the village.

"So, what are we going to do?" Hoshi asked me. "I think we should have a group of four. So, it's you, me and…?"

"I'm not so sure that Nami can handle all of the information. There's too many big words in for him." I replied. "All he knows is 'dude!'" I said, imitating Nami's dude voice.

"Hikari, he is a part of our team." Hoshi replied with a pout.

I sighed. "Fine." I replied.

"Can Kiba come with us?" She asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"No." I answered.

"Why not…?"

"Because he'll get in the way."

"Oh. His injury…" Hoshi mumbled. "I should go over to his house and help him!"

"No. We have to give him space. Besides, if something slips out about what we have just heard, he'll never forgive himself. And I can't stand whiney people."

"Hikari, just admit that you two are becoming friends again…"

"NO! I don't want to be friends with him. It's too much trouble."

Hoshi sighed and then muttered something under her breath.

"What was that?" I asked.

"N-Nothing!" Hoshi stammered.

"Mmm…Hmm…"

_**Kiba's POV:**_

I stared at Akamaru in disbelief and looked down at my wounded arm. I guess this explains all the freaky things that have been happening. I don't think it's bad but…

Hikari doesn't know that it's me… So… Maybe I can finally tell what she thinks about me. I have always considered her a friend. It's sort of like Naruto and Sasuke. It's confusing but… I just want things to be back to the old times…

Maybe this weird 'transformation' can help me. After all Hope is the side of me she's a real softy about.

I smirked.

'_What are you thinking, Kiba?' _Akamaru barked. _'You're taking this situation a bit too lightly, aren't you?'_

I turned to him. "Don't you see, Akamaru? This can help me find out why Hikari hates me so much!" I cheered.

'_You couldn't have just asked her?'_

I shook my head. "No. I wouldn't be a real Inuzuka if I just ask someone why they hate me. After all, I wouldn't want to lose the war!"

Akamaru shook his head slowly and whimpered. _'This isn't going to be pretty…'_

"No it's going to be fine, Akamaru!" I said happily. I would jump for joy if I hadn't had this dumb leg.

'_You've only been able to do this ever since that cut.' _Akamaru replied.

"Yeah. But it's fine."

'_Don't you think that something like that would have consequences?'_

"Maybe. But I haven't seen anything terrible. I love this neat ability. Hikari would treat me like dirt, but when Hope comes, she's like an Inuzuka, really."

'_Hope?'_

I blushed. "Yep. That's what she named me."

Akamaru shrugged. _'I'm still calling you Kiba.'_

I smiled brightly. Maybe I should try something out tomorrow night. After all, this only happens at night.

Best power ever…

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**SonicShaymin2: Oh how wrong Kiba is…**_

_**Kiba: I'm never wrong.**_

_**Hoshi: He's right. He's never wrong!**_

_**SonicShaymin2: Anyway, how will things turn out? Will Kiba find out the truth? Probably not. But we will see more of Hikari's team. And yes… Sadly, we will have Nami…**_

_**Nami: DDDDDDDDDUUUUUUDDDDDEEEEEE-**_

_**Hikari: Shut up!**_

_**SonicShaymin2: Yeah, I will have scenes of Kiba. After all, he is the main character.**_

_**Hikari: What about me?**_

_**SonicShaymin2: Like I said, he is the main character…**_

_**Hikari: Ugh…**_

_**Kiba: Take that! I'm more loved. Anyways, review! We love seeing your comments and questions. Give us constructive criticism if you want to. We don't mind.**_

_**Hikari: We will try to listen.**_

_**SonicShaymin2: I'm so glad that I have actually planned the entire story out. Yippie! *Parties***_

_**Kiba: Should we go…?**_

_**Hikari and Hoshi: Yes.**_

_**Nami: Party! *Joins the party***_

_**Kiba, Hikari and Hoshi: Ugh…**_


End file.
